Youth comprise the majority of Genocide Victims Memorial visitors

April 24, 2010 - 16:06 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Youth, including university students and professors, comprise the majority of Genocide Victims Memorial visitors.

“Over 300 students and 20 professors of Russian-Armenian University (RAU) are gathered here to commemorate Armenian Genocide victims and prove the unity of our nation. We’ll never forget the crime perpetrated by Turkey,” chairman of RAU students council Avtandil Avetisyan told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.